Anyone Fish for Whitefish?

[Neptune]

I was curious if anyone fishes for whitefish. Here in NW Montana we have quite few of them that run up the Flathead river out of the lake. I can catch them in the lake but haven't been able to hook up on one in the river.

How do people fish for them? Any surefire things to try?

Just curious....
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[RedDwarf]

I catch them in most of the trout streams in Idaho. I think they are good eating, but I know a lot of people don't care for them. I've caught them on worms and lures and also when flyfishing with nymphs and dry flies fished wet. One particular pattern that works well is a Renegade - just let it get soaked and it will sink. I have caught a few on dry flies, but I think they were [crazy]

Whitefish can provide a nice winter alternative as they seem to be a bit more active than trout when its cold. Our bag limit is also way up there (25 for most of the state) so on a good day, you can feed the clan.

Red Dwarf
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[Neptune]

Thanks for the info RD. Here in NW Montana the bag limit is 100 per day! So having enough to go around isn't an issue. There are guys who actually commercial fish them with rod and reel, but they won't give a guy any pointers...

So thanks again!
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Hey Neptune,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]I personally like fishing for Whitefish - they are fun to catch and quite tasty.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]In the places I've fished for Whitefish(Idaho and Utah), almost anything that would work for trout would work for Whitefish as well. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Try nymphs, dries, bugger/leach patterns for fly fishing. Nymph/fly under a bubble, worms, grubs, and leaches for hardware fishing. Although you can use a lot of different things, one of the best baits for them overall seems to be salmon eggs.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Fish for them in the same places that you would for trout using the same presentations and you should get into them. Usually, most people catch them when they are actually fishing for trout.[/size][/black]
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[lunkerhunter2]

Hi neptune. I fish for them with hares ear nymphs. They are easy to catch if you are in the right spot. I have had days on my home river with 100+whities. I have never eaten one because i have heard they were only good smoked. Good luck.
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[RedDwarf]

Lunkerhunter2:

They are good smoked, but I usually just fry them like I would a catfish. I never mastered the art of fileting, so I cut them into steaks about an inch thick. Then pan fry, breaded or not. Call me crazy, but I think they taste just fine.

Red Dwarf
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[lunkerhunter2]

I am definately going to try one this year.
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[davetclown]

we catch them in the great lakes and their tributaries of michigan, no one I know of targets them spicificaly, most are caught while fishing for walleye along with sheep head "fresh water drum"

method used while catching is a single number 4 long shank arbordeen hook. and one quarter to one third crawler on the hook is all that is needed. fish near the bottom of the river channels.

they are caught comercialy for market here, nothing of significant size to speak of.

I keep them when I come across them, fillet them the same as gills. breaded and fried. usualy beer batter. but thats just me, I have to have an excuse to open a beer once in a while.[]
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[Neptune]

Around here in the fall/winter the little buggers stay stuck to the bottom. We use lead head jigs with a meriad of rubber/power bait tails and some maggots for good taste..

On sunday I caught one about 2lbs and the other just shy of 4lbs. nice fish... Filleted and ready for the smoker!!!
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